Amyloid beta 1-42 and tau in the cerebrospinal fluid of renal failure patients for the diagnosis of Alzheimer's disease

J Nephrol. 2014 Apr;27(2):217-20. doi: 10.1007/s40620-014-0043-6. Epub 2014 Jan 29.

Abstract

Cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) Aβ42, total tau and phosphorylated tau (p-tau) are well-defined diagnostic markers for Alzheimer's disease (AD). There has been no previous report of the use of these markers in the diagnosis of AD in patients with chronic kidney disease (CKD). We would like to report our preliminary findings on these biomarkers in three patients with renal failure. One patient with a clinical diagnosis of AD showed elevated CSF tau, p-tau 181, and decreased Aβ42 levels, within a similar range as in local Chinese AD patients without renal impairment. The other two delirious patients, who did not have a clinical diagnosis of AD, showed normal CSF biomarkers. We found that the diagnosis of AD with CSF biomarkers appears to be useful in renal failure patients. But our results need to be confirmed in a larger study, comparing these CSF biomarkers in AD vs. non-AD patients with concomitant CKD.

Publication types

  • Case Reports
  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Aged
  • Alzheimer Disease / cerebrospinal fluid*
  • Alzheimer Disease / complications
  • Alzheimer Disease / diagnosis*
  • Amyloid beta-Peptides / cerebrospinal fluid*
  • Biomarkers / cerebrospinal fluid
  • Delirium / diagnosis
  • Delirium / etiology
  • Diagnosis, Differential
  • Humans
  • Kidney Failure, Chronic / complications*
  • Male
  • Middle Aged
  • Peptide Fragments / cerebrospinal fluid*
  • Phosphorylation
  • tau Proteins / cerebrospinal fluid*
  • tau Proteins / metabolism

Substances

  • Amyloid beta-Peptides
  • Biomarkers
  • Peptide Fragments
  • amyloid beta-protein (1-42)
  • tau Proteins